One Body in Christ

Operations managers and administrative managers of our Catholic schools share their smiles together with the staff from Archdiocesan Commission of Catholic Schools.

The wider Church community was brought together at Agape Village (AV) during this year’s day of recollection and learning journey, organised by the Archdiocesan Commission of Catholic Schools (ACCS) for the operations managers and administrative managers of our Catholic schools.

On 12 June 2018, 14 Catholic school managers and four staff from ACCS, led by their Spiritual Director, Fr. Edward Seah, gathered at AV for their annual day of recollection and learning journey (DORL). Besides providing an opportunity for the managers to refresh and recharge themselves, the DORL also appreciates the unique contributions of these managers, to the various Catholic schools.

The managers who attended the DORL were thankful for the opportunity to deepen their friendships with one another. One of the managers shared that the recollection helped her to personally connect with fellow managers. This sense of solidarity would go on to help her reach out more easily to the other managers when in doubt and in need of advice at work. These sentiments were shared by Ms Dolly Chan, liaison manager of ACCS, who similarly commented on the importance for the managers to “realise that they are not alone and that they can reach out to each other across the schools.”

Managers baking alongside the adults from Mamre Oaks

In addition to a tour of AV, the managers participated in a cook-and-bake-out session with a few intellectually and developmentally-challenged adults from Mamre Oaks Limited, one of the 14 member organisations housed at AV. For many of these managers, it was their first time interacting closely with someone who has special needs. Fr. Edward Seah expressed how this “exposes the managers to the works of the Catholic Church, beyond the education field, and is an opportunity for them to gain new perspectives.”

More than just an introduction to the various social services offered by the Catholic Church, the DORL embodied the Church’s unity. For Ms Genevieve Koh, the programmes and operations manager of Agape Village, it was heartening to see the “parallel efforts endeavoured by both the education and social service arms of the Church, in the service of God’s people.”

Through the DORL, different organisations within the Church supported and inspired one another to continue fulfilling their respective missions. This echoes the words of St. Paul, “As a body is one though it has many parts – and all the parts of the body, though many, are a single body – so it is with Christ.” (1 Cor 12:12)